The Library (The Librarian of Alexandria Book 1) by Casey White (surface ebook reader .TXT) 📕

caught in his throat.  This was what Alexandria did, he realized.  It didn't matter that it could.  He was the Librarian.

And it chose to make him do it, instead.

Banishing the thoughts, he threw his hand out toward Leon, who was even then dashing across the ruined study.  "Leon!" he screamed again.  "Here!"

As if Leon hadn't already been running for him, he thought wryly.  Even still, Leon seemed to zero in on him, running all the faster.

His hand slapped down into Owl's a heartbeat after.  He stumbled, all but falling, and the two went down hard.

Okay, Owl whispered, his shoulder pressed into Leon's.  His thoughts had already shot free, envisioning the space around them.  Now that he knew where Leon was, now that he didn't have to worry about locking his friend out in the mayhem...now he could work.  Don't kill us, Alexandria.  Please.  I don’t know why you’re doing this, just...just...please.

A shield.  His mind traced out the barrier they needed, spreading from a point over their heads.  Iron.  Delicate bars that'd sprout from open air, falling in an arch to plant against the floors.  There'd be plates to connect the whole lot of them, blocking out glass and fire and any of the other destruction being wrought about him.

He heard Leon hiss, his voice tight with terror, and felt him draw in closer to Owl's side. His hands clutched at Owl’s.

Owl squeezed back, his head pounding. "It's okay," he whispered.  "I'm...working.  We're okay."

"Y-Yeah," Leon squeaked, little more than a breath of air.

When Owl cracked one eye open, the world around them was dark - and quieter, somehow.  Good.  He didn't have to stretch out a hand to know his shield had worked.  Not when the angry clatter of glass and lumber crashing down over it echoed around their tiny enclosure.

They were safe.  The next step was down.  Owl bit his tongue, holding the image of the wing in his mind.  The room had been trashed.  That much had been very, very clear from his final images before the shield went up.  There was little he could do to fix that from behind the barrier - but he wouldn't tolerate fire in his Library.

Slowly, carefully, Owl sucked a narrow stream of air between his lips.  His eyes were squeezed tightly shut the whole time, ignoring the nervous quivering of Leon’s hand against his.  More.  More.  There were fires burning still, big or small.  They'd need fuel to keep burning.  Not on his watch.

The metal around them groaned, shifting under the changing pressures in the wing, and Leon jumped.  Owl nudged him, still drawing in air.

When his lungs were full and the air out in the wing was as inert as he could make it, he let it huff back out - and let the skies open.

The roar of water crashing down across the wing resounded through the narrow chamber.  Leon yelped, the sound almost lost amid the din.  Owl kept pouring it out, kept the water flowing until the smell of dank, musty wood filled his nostrils.  When he finally let it go, a sigh slipped between his lips.

He rocked forward, his head spinning. His hand was empty again.  Someone grabbed his shoulder.  "Hey," Leon said.  "Hey.  Come on, there."

"...I'm...I'm fine," Owl mumbled, swallowing over and over again.  "Should...be good."

"Are you sure?"

Owl chuckled, the sound echoing in his own ears.  "Not really.  Let's...figure it out.  Let's go."

"How?"

Fighting back a groan, Owl thrust his hand out.  A narrow, cold metal handle appeared under his fingers.  "Come on," he murmured.  And then he twisted hard, pushing the makeshift flap open.

Crawling out into the open air, Owl stood, reaching back to help Leon up.  The man rose, almost as unsteady as Owl himself.  His skin was coated in dirt, and a line of blood had soaked through his brassy hair from a gouge somewhere underneath, but he grinned nervously at Owl.  "S-So.  So that's a thing.  That happened."

"Yeah."  Owl glanced around, still fighting off the waves of wooziness that crashed down over his head.  The damage, then.  How bad was it?

Bad.  His fingers tightened.  Most of the shelves around the wing had toppled over.  A few pillars had been broken through, like he'd spotted, which left the rafters drooping and dangling in patches.  The beautiful glasswork of the windows overhead had been ruined, shattered into a million pieces and left to scatter across the heaps of upended, discarded books.  He'd never seen destruction of its kind before.  Certainly not in his Library.

"Jesus," he heard Leon whisper next to him.  "Jesus Christ.  Owl.  This...this is-"

"It's okay," Owl mumbled, wobbling his way through the mess of it and leaving their makeshift shelter behind.  A chunk of wood from the rafters had fallen over the dome he'd built, big enough to crush both of them.  His lips tightened.  Alexandria really wasn't pulling her punches.

"What was the point of this?" he whispered.  "I get that you're confident in my abilities, but even still-"

"What's that?" Leon said, drawing closer.

Owl shook his head.  "Nothing."  Little by little, he was starting to regain control over himself, slowing his pulse and steadying his hands.  The aching exhaustion never left him, but he didn't expect it to.  He turned toward the nearest wall instead, beckoning Leon after him.  "Come on.

"W-What?" Leon said.

Owl stepped toward the blank wall, narrowing his eyes at the patch of still-dripping stonework.  They'd never make it to the normal exit, not with the mess that lay between them.  Some help? he whispered, unable to keep the icy note from his mental voice.

The wall shimmered, then moved, the stones rolling in place.  A door appeared as if from within the blocks themselves.

Owl heard Leon stumble away, heard him cursing under his breath.  "Stop freaking out," he said, trudging forward.  "We're...we're fine."

"Right out of the stone."

"That's what it does, yes."  Owl grabbed one of the handles, giving an almighty tug - and exhaled, managing a smile.  The hallway outside was clear and smoke-free, just as pristine as ever.